Day 22 - Franz Josef Glacier -> Christchurch
Saturday 30th November
Our final day in New Zealand :(
After taking a rain-check (literally) we decided helicopter flights weren’t going to be happening - it was a bit brighter than the day before, but still loads of mist over the mountain tops - so we checked-out the motel and set off towards Hakitika Gorge.
A two-hour drive from Franz got us to Hakitika Gorge 20 minutes or so out of Hakitika centre. With all the rain that had fallen overnight, the river was pretty full, and very grey with all the rock flour in the water. Depending on the conditions, it’s either clear blue, milky grey or muddy brown! It wasn’t really picnic weather so after wandering down the the (very swingy) swing bridge, we headed off towards Arthur’s Pass.
Even with a bit of low-lying cloud, the driving through Arthur’s Pass has the most amazing scenery - we stopped at Death’s Corner to take some photos! As we arrived at Arthur’s Pass Village, we took a break at the Wobbly Kea pub - a sleepy little place that seemingly time has forgotten! After filling up on caffeine and sugar we continued on our way.
So 7 hours after we left Franz, we arrived at our final motel in Christchurch! We checked-in, then drove the car back to Apex a few minutes up the road. We’d clocked up 4,945 km (3,000 miles) over the last 3 weeks. Not bad going!
We took the free airport-shuttle from Apex to the airport, and the driver told us about Christchurch’s annual Christmas In The Park concert happening that night in Hagley Park. So that was the evening sorted. We got on a bus and headed into town, past the University and jumped off at Hagley Park. A parking attendant at the park gave us a bit more info about what was happening that night, we had a few hours to spare so walked into the city centre and cathedral square.
The earthquake happened 3-4 years ago but I was surprised how much the city is still closed down. Some blocks have been demolished and flattened, and others are just left there empty. It’s quite eerie, like something out of 28 Days Later… except for tourists taking photos and the odd shop still trading. A pop-up shipping container shopping mall is now in place of the old City Mall, which is great to see that the shops that were there before can continue trading, but feels very temporary at the same time.
The Cathedral itself is pretty much destroyed. There are plaques in the square outside with notes about the history and photos from before the tower fell down - again very eerie stuff.
We set off back to the park following people dressed in Santa hats, dropped into a shop on the way to grab some beers, and found a spot in the park in front of the stage to watch the concert. There’s something quite odd about being sat in a field in 20˚ sun, with a 20 metre decorated fir tree and Christmas songs being sung, especially those mentioning snow!
The concert lasted about 3 hours and finished up with some fireworks. Still slightly bemused by the whole event, we flagged down a taxi and took the quick drive back to the motel. A great finale to our New Zealand trip!
At the motel, we repacked our bags for the trip home, and finished off the last of the beers and wine that we’d collected.
9am start tomorrow to the airport for the flights back home.